The Impact of Hurricane Harvey on Pregnant Moms

Johanna Bick, assistant professor of clinical psychology at the University of Houston, is launching a study of women who were pregnant during Hurricane Harvey, or who became pregnant within six months after, to track the role of stress in neonatal development and pregnancy outcomes and whether a simple online writing exercise can alleviate some of that anxiety.

“Pregnant women are an especially vulnerable group that can be highly affected by experiencing a natural disaster,” said Bick. “The more we learn about how different women deal with stress in these circumstances and how it affects birth outcomes, the better equipped we’ll be to develop prevention and intervention programs.”

Bick will study 1,000 Houston moms like Chandra Frederick, who was 29 weeks pregnant and went into false labor when Harvey struck. (Spoiler alert: Her baby Justin was born on time, and she reports he is adorable.)